Many screen capture utilities are available: some free and some not. I chose to investigate Windows Snipping Tool and Print Screen because I did not want to pay for or install any additional software. A description of these free options follows below.

Print Screen

I have used the print screen key combinations before. The capture is placed on the clipboard, which can be pasted into a document or email.

Alt-PrntScr will capture the active window.

PrntScr will capture the entire desktop.

This is appropriate in most situations; however, if I only want to capture a portion, then the print screen option does not work. I needed to find alternatives. First, I looked into TechSmith's SnagIt. This is a great tool with diverse functionality, but overkill for my needs. Eventually, I stumbled onto Microsoft's built in Snipping Tool.

Snipping Tool

Snipping tool allows the user to capture entire desktop screen images, a window, rectangular area, or free-form drawn area. The snipping tool can be found at: %windir%\system32\SnippingTool.exe. You can also enter Snipping into the Start > Search programs and files to find the utility.